TUS Midlands miss out on final as GMIT advance
Trench Cup semi-final: GMIT 2-13 TUS Midlands 1-10
Kevin Egan
The result might have been as predicted, but TUS Midlands came far closer to pulling off a shock win than the final six-point margin would suggest in last night’s Trench Cup semi-final.
And the Athlone students only have themselves to blame for failing to secure a tilt at silverware on Friday afternoon – albeit there is considerable doubt over whether or not the final will go ahead as scheduled, due to the inter-county commitments of a number of Dundalk IT players.
Missed goal chances, a failure to use the stormy wind in the first half and a failure to properly allow for it in the second, all meant that Keith Higgins’ side were chasing down a much larger deficit than was needed when they finally got some momentum going after half-time. Correct any of those deficits, and it all could have been a very different story.
The wind was such that it didn’t really favour anyone and merely made life difficult for all concerned, but it was a far bigger inconvenience for the team playing away from the dressing room end of the main pitch in Bekan, and yet GMIT made light of that in the early stages of the game.
Eoin Mannion had two attempts on goal in the first ten minutes, his first parried over the bar by goalkeeper Eoin Geraghty, but the second rattled the TUS Midlands net to establish an early four-point lead. Mannion following up with a superb point to make it 1-3 to 0-1.
Finally the midlanders settled into the game with a couple of frees from Robbie Forde (Moate All Whites). And they got a huge shot in the arm when Jack Torpey (Coralstown/Kinnegad) slotted in their goal with five minutes to go before half-time, with Forde instrumental in the build-up.
However, they needed to follow this up with a run of scores to give themselves something to defend in the second half, but instead it was GMIT who rallied with three points to make it 1-7 to 1-3 at the break.
The first three points of the second half also went to the westerners, but two factors led to a complete shift in the game’s momentum. Firstly, GMIT fell into the human trap of dropping back to defend their lead, but secondly, they completely lost control of midfield, where substitute Kyle Higgins transformed the kickout battle. The Ferbane player smashed countless kickouts from Livingstone back towards the GMIT goal, and it was only a truly dreadful run of shooting, that featured seven wides in a row – the first six of them all from the right wing, where the wind invariably carried the ball across the goals – that kept GMIT in a comfortable position.
Arguably the seventh wide was even more consequential, as it was a goal attempt from Garrycastle's Jason Nugent that crept inches wide of the top corner, at a time when it could have changed the game.
Gradually their comfort eroded as the chances kept coming and a few points were chipped over, and with five minutes to play, the Athlone students had cut the lead to just two points and were battering the GMIT backline, with Forde, Torpey and Cathal Flynn all on the scoresheet.
The potency of the winners’ attack was proven when they finally got some possessions and picked off points from Adam McDermott and Conor Raftery, and by the time Gary Higgins took advantage of a spilled ball to punch in a second goal, their progress to the final was assured.
Whether that final takes place as scheduled or not, is another matter. Either way, TUS Midlands will feel that they passed up a glorious chance to get there.
SCORERS - GMIT: E Mannion 1-3; A McDermott 0-4 (1f); G Higgins 1-0; R Egan 0-3 (3f); N Grainger, J Livingstone (45) and C Raftery 0-1 each. TUS Midlands: R Forde 0-6 (5f); J Torpey 1-1; C Flynn, P McManus (f) and C Delaney (f) 0-1 each.
GMIT: Jack Livingstone; Johnny McGrath, Aaron McManus, Fergal Ginnane; Jason O'Malley, Sean Keane, Jordan Shields; Liam Costello, Conor Raftery; Cillian Finn, Eoin Mannion, Niall Treacy; Nathan Grainger, Adam McDermott, Ross Egan. Subs used: Conor Reid for O'Malley (42 mins), Shea O'Donoghue for Ginnane (44), Gary Higgins for Treacy (47), Conor McDonnell for Keane (54), Tom McDonald for Egan (59).
TUS MIDLANDS: Eoin Geraghty; Brendan Killian, Ian McGillycuddy, Conor Lohan; Kieran Colclough, Cormac Timoney, Shane Allen; Enda Maguire, Cormac Delaney; Ryan O'Donoghue, Paul McManus, James Bracken; Jack Torpey, Cathal Flynn, Robbie Forde. Subs used: Kyle Higgins for Bracken (HT), Jason Nugent for O'Donoghue (41 mins), Seán Flynn for McGillycuddy (48), Bradley Okaidja for Forde (59).
REFEREE: Liam Devenney (Mayo).